<p>wej - Sorry, but I know too many people who are in an ideal academic program with regrets about the social atmosphere. As you said in your “post-admit” advice, academics are not the only criteria; so what difference does it make in deciding before or after admittance? Why waste my time applying to a school where I wouldn’t be happy socially? Nor do I think that subjective aspects are “impossible” to judge from a distance; would you also advise international applicants to completely ignore social fit since the research will be useless?</p>
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Please don’t misrepresent my position.</p>
<p>I’ve never thought of a women’s college as a convent. Far from it; that much is obvious. But is it harder than at an equivalent coed college? Certainly–and to different degrees at different schools. Even some coed schools with a skewed ratio might require more effort than a women’s college in an extremely close consortium (e.g. the Spelman/Morehouse relationship).</p>